Friday, November 7, 2014

The Gobbler

The Gobbler

A Thanksgiving Tale

Every year
for the past six years, Giblet Turkey Farms and Slaughterhouse has suffered
some great tragedy on the eve of Turkey Day. Gunter and Drumstick Giblet have hired the party to protect
their prestigious institution and get to the bottom of these mysterious matters.
Through the night the PCs are visited by the Ghost of Turkeys Past, the Ghost
of Turkeys Present, and the Ghost of Turkeys Future before coming face to face
with the fearsome Gobbler.

Included in
“The Gobbler:”

Six delicious turkey-based enemies

A bizarre yearly ritual of slaughter in the town of Pilgrim’s Rest

A mysterious new holiday themed curse

A new character race, the Awakened Turkey (only with purchase of the pdf)

Two sticks of butter and a dash of nutmeg

The Gobbler is a Thanksgiving one-shot meant for 3-4 second to fourth level PCs using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game ruleset.

Purchase a pdf of the Gobbler for 99 cents here! Includes the Awakened Turkey playable race!

Turkey Day is
an annual tradition in the quaint little town of Pilgrim’s Rest. At noon, the eager townsfolk hurry out
of their homes and down to the dozen or so turkey farms that line Pilgrim’s
Promenade. After purchasing the
biggest turkey they can afford, they take their turkey to the town center for
the Great Slaughtering, a sacrifice to the Mighty Turkey in the Sky. Then, they take the remains home, throw
the broken body in the oven, and settle down with the whole family to eat the corpse. Other ceremonial dishes include
eviscerated potatoes, liquefied squash, and pie.

For centuries,
Giblet Turkey Farms and Slaughterhouse provided the biggest, highest quality
turkeys known to Pilgrim’s Rest. A
family institution, Giblet Farms has been selling turkeys since the first great
cull of ‘09. But recently, the farms
have fallen on hard times. Every
year for the past six year, Giblet farms has dutifully built up their turkey
stores, feeding and housing the great fowl throughout the seasons. Every year, Gunther Giblet, owner of
the farms, insists that turkeys will be on sale this year for Turkey day with
no problems.

And every
year, some mysterious tragedy has befallen the farms in the night. Giblet Turkey Farms and Slaughterhouse
is unable to open on time the next day, and the farms are forced to sell their
turkeys the next day at slashed prices.

The PCs have
been hired to protect Giblet Turkey Farms and Slaughterhouse, and to get to the
bottom of the mystery.

Gunther Giblet’s
Office

Gunther’s
waiting room is a bit small, but otherwise comfy. Chairs, tables, books, and mugs are all halfling size, and
the taller PCs must crouch to avoid touching the ceiling. The walls, floors and chairs are all
decorated in brown and orange, and the paintings all depict Gunther with some
massive prize turkey caught in the wild.
A silver bowl of piping hot cider fills the room with a delicious scent.

Gunther is
clearly running behind schedule, locked in some angry and increasingly loud
negotiations with a young lady.
As the minutes tick by, the conversation behind the closed door reaches
a fever pitch, until suddenly a dark haired halfling woman bursts out of the
office fuming. Her voice already
hoarse from yelling, she stops, spins around, and screams “And you didn’t have to name me Drumstick!” before disappearing out
the front door.

Gunther
Giblet stands red faced in the room.
With a long sigh this round little halfling returns to his chair, leans
back, rests his feet up on the desk, and begins to massage his temples. His eyes are closed, but after a few
moment he calls out “Next appointment
please.” It is the PCs’ turn.

The office
smells strongly of cinnamon and nutmeg. Just like in the waiting room, everything in here is brown,
orange, and halfling sized. The
walls are lined with paintings of massive turkeys that Gunther himself has
caught.

Directly
behind Gunther is a huge painting of the halfling himself next to the largest
turkey the PCs have ever seen. In
the painting, Gunther is scratched and pecked up from the hunt, but otherwise
beaming. Next to Gunther is a scowling
halfling child who can only be Drumstick.

“She’ll come
around. The business has been in
the family for seven centuries, and it is not going to stop with Drumstick.” He sighs again. “She’s a vegetarian,
you know. Does it to spite me.” A large bottle of Wild Turkey Bourbon
sits on the desk, and Gunther pours himself a small cup, then downs it. “Stressful time of year. I always try and see to it that I get
as blotto as possible before Turkey Day.” He pours another glass, then raises
it. “Cheers.”

A look of
recognition suddenly flashes in Gunther’s eyes. “Oh! You are
the mercenaries that I hired to look into matters at the farm!”

Gunther will
then engage in conversation with the PCs.
He is a very amiable and has done his research, talking with the PCs
about their past adventures and public lives.

He will also
explain the situation. Every year
on the night before Turkey Day, mysterious vandals wreck his farm. He has hired previous mercenaries to
look into the matter, but they have all, unfortunately, been brutally murdered
on the job by inexplicable forces.

If the PCs
ask about Drumstick, Gunther will explain that she is his daughter from a
mother who died in childbirth.
Drumstick does not want to take over the family business, but Gunther is
sure she will change her mind.
Gunther will dismiss any accusations aimed at Drumstick as preposterous.

Gunther will
also dismiss any accusations aimed at his competition, insisting that turkey
farming attracts only upstanding gentlemen, and they have all been very
sympathetic.

After the
first accusation, or fit somewhere else into the conversation, Gunther will
exclaim “And don’t tell me it’s the Gobbler!” When asked to explain, Gunther will roll his eyes. “A silly
urban legend, nothing more. Six
years ago, I installed an automatic turkey slaughterer to speed things up on
Turkey Day. Put the live turkey in
one end, get a perfectly de-feathered, beheaded, and cooked turkey on the
other. I’m very proud of it.

“Well, during
the installation, one of the crew fell inside the machine. Before we could turn it off, the poor
fellow was de-feathered, beheaded, and cooked. We sent his body home to his family but, due to a terrible
miscommunication, they ate him for their Turkey Day dinner. We received a very
kind letter the next day thanking us for the meal.

“In any
case, some of my more superstitious workers now believe that his ghost haunts
the farm, and that he is behind the accidents. Totally gobble-de-gook if you ask me. Hogwash!”

The PCs have no way of knowing this, but
this entire story is just a red herring.
It is all true, but the man’s ghost moved on without issue, happy that
he could feed his family one last time.

After
determining payment (1,500gp a party member, unless the price has been negotiated
higher) and resolving any other outstanding issues, Gunther sends the party
directly to the farm to begin their watch. The PCs get to the farm as night
falls.

The
Giblet Turkey Farm and Slaughterhouse

The term “farm”
is an overstatement. The Giblet
Turkey Farm and Slaughterhouse is a large warehouse. Cubbyholes filled with massive turkeys fill the west and
south walls of this 5 story room, and the noise is incredible. The top five
feet of each of the four walls is devoted to windows which let in the night
breeze and moonlight.

Along the
east wall sits “the machine,” menacing and still. It is 45 feet long and jet black, a coal operated conveyor
belt of death. Spring loaded blades, shiny red tubes, and a square oven are all
part of the hellish contraption. A
series of empty buckets lie below the machine, evidently for catching the
unwanted by-products of the process.
They are, thankfully, empty.

The room is
also littered with empty wooden crates, presumably for transporting live
turkeys. The boxes are three feet tall, provide partial cover, and require a DC
10 acrobatic check to leap onto.
Inform the players that they should feel free to arrange the boxes
however they like.

The only
door in or out of the room is in the center of the north wall. It leads to a series of small
storerooms and staff rooms.

Allow the
PCs to investigate and set up whatever defenses they like, including pushing
the boxes around to make cover.
After that, time passes quickly.

The Warning

The turkeys
slowly fall asleep, and the unbearable noise dies down. All is silent for a time, and the hours
tick by.

Then, around
11pm, a soft scratching noise is heard, as if something hard is being dragged
across a stone floor. The
scratching noise grows louder and louder, until it is evident that something is
about to burst in from the northern door.

Something
does.

The door
flings open, and a booming voice declares “Beware!” The turkeys all wake up at the sound and begin to gobble
madly.

In the doorway
stands an extremely elderly half-elf.
He has a light dusting of white hair on his head and chin, and is
missing one of his eyes. The man
is dressed in overalls, is carrying a mop and is dragging a bucket of water
behind him.

“Beware!”
Repeats the half-elf, if he is not subject to the prepared actions of the
PCs. “I am Derby, the night
janitor, and I have seen your predecessors torn to pieces every year for the
past 6 years! Beware! Tonight you shall be visited by three
Ghosts: The Ghost of Turkeys Past, The Ghost of Turkeys Present, and The Ghost
of Turkeys Future! Only after shall
you see the Gobbler before he takes your life. You shall know him, for his gobbles shall shatter the very
windows!”

Derby kicks
his bucket over dramatically, raises his arms, then starts mopping the floor.

Derby is a
fairly crazy half-elf. He has been
the night janitor for Giblet Turkey Farms and Slaughterhouse for nearly 100
years, and it shows. He is ragged,
beaten down, and with his fair share of scars from handling turkeys.

He moves
extremely fast, mopping the whole of the room in just a minute or two. During this time, he will answer any
questions the PCs have.

Derby has
never seen the ghosts or the gobbler.
He only knows about them from the screams of the mercenaries as they
attempt to fight.

Derby knows
that Drumstick hates the farm, but has never seen her act against it.

Derby was
there the night that they installed the machine. A halfing named Trypto Phan was sucked inside, and Derby is
sure that the ghost of Trypto is the gobbler.

To other
questions, Derby will give crazy and evasive answers. When the PCs are done with him, or when two minutes have
elapsed, Derby will take his mop and bucket and leave to clean the other
rooms. However, the PCs have
explicit orders to stay in the main room.
If they follow him, they will discover him cleaning until about
midnight, and then leaving to go home.

The Ghost of Turkeys
Past

Within half
an hour the turkeys have calmed down again. Most have ceased their gobbling and all is quiet again.

At midnight,
the town bell begins to toll. It
rings out, seeming to slow down as it counts up. After the eleventh tone there is an extraordinarily long
pause … and then a
loud bang erupts from inside the room.
The machine chugs to life, spitting smoke and a foul stench. The fires within the oven begin to glow
red, growing brighter with every passing moment.

Then, turkey
entrails start seeping out of the bottom of the contraption. They quickly overflow their buckets,
spilling onto the floor in a massive red and black puddle. As the machine picks up steam, the
entrails rise in a heap, forming a huge, Frankenstein turkey. This fifteen foot turkey drips
intestines, feet, and brains, and fixes two glowing red eyes on the PCs before
attacking.

Upon the turkey
ooze’s creation, all PCs should make a DC 12 Will save or become frightened for
d6 rounds.

Ooze, Turkey CR 5

XP 1,200

N Huge ooze

Init -3; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception -5

-------DEFENSE-------

AC 5, touch 5, flat-footed 5 (-3 Dex,
-2 size)

hp 50 (4d8+32)

Fort +9, Ref -2, Will -4

Defensive Abilities split; Immune ooze traits, slashing and
piercing

-------OFFENSE-------

Speed 10 ft.

Melee bite +6 (2d6+7)

Space 15ft.; Reach 5 ft.

-------STATISTICS-------

Str 20, Dex 5, Con 26, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1

Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 13

-------SPECIAL ABILITIES-------

Split (Ex) Slashing and piercing
weapons deal no damage to a turkey ooze. Instead, the creature splits into two
identical oozes, each with half of the original's current hit points (round
down). A turkey ooze with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and
dies if reduced to 0 hit points.

After the
destruction of the turkey ooze, the machine shuts off and all goes quiet
again. The remains of the turkey
ooze slowly disappear.

The Ghost of Turkeys
Present

Things
remain calm until one o’clock. The
sudden chiming of the town bell wakes the turkeys, and they begin to gobble to
each other. Instead of dying out
like for previous hours, this gobbling grows and grows, until it is
insufferably loud. All PCs should
make a DC 12 Fortitude check or become deafened for d4 minutes.

Suddenly,
the cages lining the walls of the room burst open. Hundreds if not thousands of turkeys pour forth, with their
minds set on revenge.

Place one
turkey swarm on the south wall, one on the west wall, and one in the southwest
corner.

Turkey Swarm CR 2

XP 600

N tiny
animal (swarm)

Init +0; Senses Perception +5

-------DEFENSE-------

AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex,
+2 size)

hp 25 (3d8+12)

Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +2

Defensive Abilities swarm traits

-------OFFENSE-------

Speed 30 ft.

Melee swarm (1d6 plus distraction)

Space 10ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Special Attacks distraction (DC 14)

-------STATISTICS-------

Str 12, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 11

Base Atk +3; CMB —; CMD —

Feats Toughness, Great Fortitude

Skills Acrobatics +4, Climb +7,
Perception +5

-------SPECIAL ABILITIES-------

Distraction (Ex) Any living creature
that take damage from a turkey swarm must make a DC 14 Fortitude save or be
nauseated for 1 round.

When the
turkey swarms are dispatched, our heroes can see to their amazement that the
cages are all closed once more, and the turkeys are still in them as if nothing
has happened. The turkey corpses
littering the floors have all vanished.

The Ghost of Turkeys
Future

Things are
quiet again until the bell chimes two.
After the last chime dies out, there is a sudden flash of light in near
the doorway. All PCs should make a
DC 12 Reflex save or become blinded for one round.

Three
turkeys appear in the northern end of the room. These turkeys are slightly taller than an average turkey,
and they are dressed unusually.

The turkey
in front grasps a longsword in one hand, and a steel shield in the other hand.
He is dressed in full plate and sports a steel helmet. The turkey to his left
wears a green cap and grasps a longbow.
The turkey to his right sports a pointed purple wizard’s hat and a long
white beard. In his wing he holds
a staff.

The turkey
in front gestures meaningfully to the PCs, and utters a confident gobble to his
companions. He then gives off a
deep turkey warcry and charges the party.

These
turkeys, like their predecessors, disappear when they are killed.

The Gobbler

On the
strike of three, the world seems to go dim. A distant, deep gobbling can be
heard somewhere outside the building.
It grows louder and louder, with caged turkeys echoing the sentiment,
until a single ear piercing gobble shatters the high windows of the room. Then the door bursts open.

Gunther
Gibblet stands in the doorway. He
gobbles to the heavens, clearly out of his mind with drink and pain. As the PCs watch in horror, Gunther
sprouts long brown feathers. His
nose elongates and hardens, and his halfling feet grow yellow and thin. He howls as his arms extend and then
fold back onto themselves. The quivering mass grows. And grows. And grows. Gunther is no more. In his place, a massive, terrifying turkey stands.

Onset the eve of Turkey Day; Frequency on the night of every Turkey Day

Effect target transforms into a wereturkey
under the GM's control until the next morning

Resolution and
Rewards

The result
off all this nonsense varies widely depending on the player’s choices. If Gunther is killed, then Drumstick
closes the farm. She hates the
party for killing her father, but does not press charges.

If Gunther
is simply subdued, then he returns to human form at daybreak with no memory of
the night’s events. He genuinely
does not know that he is a were-turkey. Gunther has been getting “blotto” every
Turkey Day eve for the past 20 years.
He wakes up the next morning completely hungover and usually in some
strange place, with no memory of the previous night. Because of this, he has no recollection of turning into a
were-turkey, and does not think it strange when he wakes in torn up
clothes. He just assumes he’s a
pretty crazy drunk.

Gunther
received the curse from a magical turkey, the largest catch of his life and the
one now immortalized in a picture on his office wall. He will make this connection when told of his affliction.

A remove
disease, remove curse, or heal spell will cure Gunther of his lycanthropy. Otherwise, he will simply have to chain
himself up every Turkey Day eve.

In any case,
as long as Gunther survives the night, he will be thrilled with the PCs for
cracking the case. He will provide
the PCs with whatever reward was promised and will even throw in a lifetime
supply of turkey. Though the PCs
may have had enough of turkeys after the events at Giblet Turkey Farm and
Slaughterhouse.

Purchase a pdf of the Gobbler for 99 cents here!Includes the Awakened Turkey playable race!

3 comments:

Does anyone know how to boost this for level 13 characters. Never ran a game before but might try it out on my friends. They are all level 13 and I doubt they would want to roll new characters just for this.

The best way to do this would be to grab a few CR appropriate monsters from the bestiary and re-flavor them as the turkey horrors. The turkey ooze could be a carnivorous blob(http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/oozes/carnivorous-blob). The turkey swarms can become Mandragora swarms (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/plants/mandragora/mandragora-swarm). Etc. Then, all the delicious thanksgiving flavor can remain the same!